Food for Thought

Ask a 3- or 4-year-old where food comes from, and they are likely to say that it comes from the store. They haven’t thought about where it comes from before it magically appears on the store’s shelves. Helping young children learn about the sources of their food can help them to better understand and appreciate how the world around them works.  

A project based on a type of food is likely to be successful for several reasons.  

• First, all children need food and consume it on a daily basis. This familiarity strengthens the likelihood that many students in a class will participate in the project.  
• Second, because food can be experienced with so many of the senses, it is an excellent topic for first-hand investigation. Food-based topics can lead to rich project work that engages and motivates young learners. 
• Third, since children experience food at home, families can easily participate and support the investigation. 

Many important concepts can be discovered in a food-related project. Here are just a few: 

• Food can be sweet, sour, or salty 
• Vegetables grow from seeds 
• Heat has an impact on food 
• Yeast is magical and is used in many types of bread that exist in the world 
• Food grows on trees, under the ground, and on vines 
• Some food comes from animals 
• Some foods are more nutritious than others 
• Food may spoil under certain conditions 
• All families don’t eat the same types of food 

In addition, ingredients can be combined to make a type of food.  For example, children in The Pumpkin Project wondered how to “get pumpkin into a pie” and learned by doing.   

Food is too broad and abstract to support the launch of a project. Introducing the project with a subtopic is more likely to be successful. For example, teachers who decided to start a project on food listened to food-related topics that came up during their students’ dramatic play. They identified an interest in pasta, and this led to the Pasta, Pasta! project. 

Teachers can approach a topic by bringing in real objects, such as a collection of vegetables or by reading a book about vegetable gardens. Considering the possibilities in their setting can help teachers plan hands-on experiences for their students: 

• Keeping in mind the time of year, types of food that are grown nearby, and the availability of resources and guest experts will be helpful. For example, in the early summer in the Midwest, children might have the opportunity to harvest cherries. In the fall, apples might be a better topic. 
• Some teachers can help children plant and tend a vegetable garden, while others might use a grow light to grow vegetables in the classroom. 
• In rural areas, visits to a dairy farm might be available. See The Cow Project. A visit to a hydroponic greenhouse might be available to children in a more urban setting. 

What possibilities for projects on food are available in your area? Do any of your families farm? Are any of them gardeners? Do you hear your students talk about their food-related topics? Can you think of ways to use this information to spark a food-related project with your students? 

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